Why are people cynical of what a mechanic tells them?

Question

Everyone seems to distrust mechanics and main dealers these days, why?

Pedro S, Bandit600 is a motorbike name and not a description of my morals. Don't be sarcastic when you don't know what you're talking about.

Answer 1

Because the cost of the services are usually very high. Vehicle problems can either be very simple, or very complex, which require the skills of someone who is able to diagnose a driveability concern. There are "parts replacers" and brake job "specialists", and there are those who are quite skilled in diagnosis and repairs. The general public doesn't know how to weed out between the two. What the general public also doesn't realize is the costs associated with being a mechanic. Their eyes usually widen when a mechanic tells them how much in tools, they spend. What they also don't realize is that for every $100.00 per hour spent on labour, the servicing mechanic only "sees" $25.00 of that, regardless of the actual time spent for the repair. In other words, they think mechanics are overpaid, which is absolutely wrong!!! I can think of A LOT of other "professions" which are much higher paying, and require a lot less skill. (ie, bus drivers, garbage collectors, or ANY Government worker for that matter)

Answer 2

I had an instance a while back when a brand new car developed gearchange problems, after its first free service.

I went back to the dealer three times to have the problem sorted without success.

Eventually, after taking the problem up with the manufacturer, the gearbox was replaced and the problem solved.

When the gearbox was stripped by the manufacturer it was found that the dealer filled the gearbox with the wrong oil during the first service.

At all times the dealers mechanics were adamant that all of these particular cars had this problem.

Probably only when serviced by them.

Likewise when I took my Landrover in for a full service, some of the extras I had asked to be done hadn't been, although I was charged for them.

I mean its quite easy to see if a rocker cover has been removed in order to check valve clearances.

My daughter was told at one garage that her car needed a new cam belt, which she paid for within the service. When she told me about it, we took the car back to the garage where I asked where the cam belt was on a OHV engine.

The answer - "Oh Sorry I must have made a mistake".

Oh, and how about the old fella that took his 1968 Volkswagen beetle into his local garage because water was coming into the drivers footwell?

"Yes sir, you need a new heater hose, but we'll have to order one from Germany"


P.S. I used to work on aircraft and the hourly labour rate for aircraft servicing was less than the rate for auto-servicing.

Answer 3

As you can see, the general public thinks we are all a bunch of rip off artists. Not the case. Rakel is correct about how much a technician makes out of the total labor rate. We are required to supply our own tools, and need to stay current on the latest technology. Don't make the mistake of thinking the guys at Jiffy Lube, Wal-Mart or any auto parts stores are technicians. Dealer technicians tend to deal with completely different problems than good independent techs. Dealers see cars usually when there is a warranty repair or recall that needs to be done. As an independent I have to deal with whatever comes in off the road. Most have been worked on by countless other shops who may or may not have known what they were doing and then there is always the hacked in stereos, alarms, and performance junk that people seem to think they have to have. I pride myself on fixing problems the first time and finding problems that no one else could. People seem to think that most problems can be fixed with a quick lube oil change, a free parts store code retrieval, and a visit to Yahoo answers. If us technicians were only in it for the money (which ain't that great) would we be here trying to help people out for free?

Answer 4

Because when I went to buy a car from a dealer it turned out that I knew more about the car than the dealer did lol. And when I had a problem with the car I told the mechanic what to fix but he still needed to check the on-board computer and it proved I was right!

Answer 5

Unfortunately there are too many documented cases of rip-offs occuring around the country. Last week there was a "60 minutes" team that went to several Jiffy Lube stores in the L.A. area to get oil changes and minor maintenance work. In 8 out of 10 cases the customers were billed for services that had not been performed and parts that had not been installed.

The Bureau of Automotive Affairs in California is responsible for policing the activities of car repair shops, they should be unning continuous checks of automotive repair facilities and pulling the license of any shop that is proven to rip-off customers...

Answer 6

The reason is that very often you never see the technician but are dealt with by a receptionist that has no interest in your car other than your credit card can accommodate the bill.The other reason is that with main dealer rates being what they are the technician is discouraged from face to face contact with the customer.

Answer 7

A mechanic friend of mine used to tell us that the first lesson in his apprenticeship was how to react when a punter came into the garage and presented you with a car for repair. He said that he learned how to take a sharp intake of breath while at the same time rubbing his chin and shaking his head gently from side to side. Sound familiar?

Answer 8

unlike a doctor who works on one thing the human body,a mechanic has about 600 models to worry with and everything is computerized so he has to figure out if this is a computer problem,or mechanical problem,today's vehicles have so many electronics and sometimes problems occur in the field that didn't show up in test lab,and every
shop can't afford a $100,000.00 tester

Answer 9

Because many people havent got a clue about motors, and mechanics know this. So its quite common for the mechanics to rip off the customers.

Answer 10

Because mechanic wants most out of the deal and the other part wants the other way around. in that Battle both will try to fool each other